Not Quite an Imaginary Friend
by The Cat Crusader
Summary: TFA-Onshot - Starscream gives his special clones some free time and Skywarp decides Earth would be a good place to hide for a while. Too bad he didn't know scary children lived under bridges...


**Disclaimer:** I don't own TFA or Skywarp. OC is mine, yadayada.

**AN:** Well... I had this idea stuck in my head and it would not go away. This is not necessarily a romance. Enjoy!

**Not Quite an Imaginary Friend**

Starscream had given his perfect creations a chance to become more acquainted with themselves and life in general. However, they must return to the _Nemesis_ by midday tomorrow. He figured that would give him enough time to come up with a plan to foil Megatron's plans and take over the Decepticons.

All of the clones had looked at each other before the femme snorted and took off in one direction across the moon. The others had followed.

"I'm going to stay right here," white declared then sped off toward the crashed ship. Yellow followed white and left blue and purple standing alone.

Blue said nothing as he went his own way. "No, wait!" purple cried, leaping and latching onto blue's legs. "Don't leave me alone!"

"Get off of me!" blue shouted and kicked purple off. He then flew away before the other could reattach himself. Purple was left on the ground, shaking so bad that his armor plates clanged together. He looked around the cold, barren surface of the moon. There was nothing to do and he was too scared to do anything.

But because of his own clanging, he didn't hear angry footfalls come up behind him. "Will you stop that racket and go do something!?" Starscream yelled and gave purple a swift kick in the aft. Purple jumped up and screamed. "I can't think with all your chattering!"

Purple nodded quickly, rubbing his backside, then took off in a random direction. His backside hurt and he had no idea of what to do. That's when he remembered the blue planet that the moon orbited around. Maybe he could find somewhere to hide there until tomorrow.

-x-

It wasn't Detroit he ended up at, though.

He had found his way to a place called Austin, Texas, but he didn't know this. All he knew was that he liked his hiding place. It was a deeply eroded runoff creek bed. The creek was currently dry and he had moved the rocks there to make a more comfortable place to sit. His back was against a home made bridge made of two large concrete pipes and a steel frame that held wooden planks to make a nice, sturdy little bridge.

He sighed. "Ah, this is nice." he said to himself, shifting a little to get a little more comfortable. It didn't take long for him to fall into a state of recharge. Hence, he wasn't ware of bicycle tires coming down the gravel driveway...

-x-

Emma McIntosh was riding her hand-me-down red bike down the hill, going to check the mail at the end of the quarter mile driveway. The wind whipped her medium length blond hair behind her as she steered her bike down the hill, her body vibrated by the uneven road and pebbles.

She giggled to herself as she started peddling as she began to lose momentum. Going down the hill was so much fun, but going back up was another story.

Anyway, the fourteen year old girl was getting close to the bridge over Dry Creek that ran though their property when she saw something strange. A long black thing was sticking up and had a purple stripe running down it. She slammed on the brakes of her bike.

"What the?" She stared at the black thing for a while. Deciding it looked like it was made of metal, she parked her bicycle against a small tree beside the driveway and walked slowly and quietly toward the bridge.

Emma took her first step onto the first wooden plank and crept to the edge. Her mouth hung open at the sight. There was a big, black and purple robot with wings sitting in the dry creek bed.

"Oh my word!" she hissed and backed away. She had seen fish and crawfish in the creek, she had seen snakes in the creek, she had seen turtles and a snapping turtle in the creek, she had yet to see and alligator in the creek. Never had she ever in her wildest dreams thought of seeing a robot in the creek. She turned ran. "Mom! Steven!" she screamed for her mother and brother.

Her screaming woke him up and he looked around wildly. He saw her running and she looked back. They made eye contact and they both screamed. He ducked down behind the creek walls, hiding his head under his hands and shutting his optics tight.

The girl reached her bike and looked back again. She was confused that the monster wasn't chasing her. She waited and waited but nothing happened, she could only hear the sound of clanging metal.

Curious, she left her bike where it was and tiptoed back toward the bridge. She got as close as she could to the bridge until she could see just enough inside. She saw the robot's back and saw he was shaking terribly.

Now she was really confused. The robot seemed to be acting... scared.

"H-hello?" Emma called quietly.

"No, no! Leave me alone!" she heard a muffled voice cry back.

"Are you okay?" she asked, coming a little closer.

He chanced a look and flipped to his back, scooting away on his backside. "Stay away from me! Please!"

She tilted her head. "_You_'re afraid of _me_?" she wondered, pointing to herself.

His back hit the neighbor's fence and he cowered under the girl's questioning. He shielded his face with his arms. "Please, don't hurt me." he whimpered.

Emma almost laughed. "I'm not going to hurt you." she said.

He peeked out at her. "Y-you're not?" he asked, almost in astonishment.

She smiled as friendly like as she could. "No."

"Oh..." The black and purple Seeker looked down at his feet. There was an awkward pause before the girl spoke up again.

"So, what are you?" she asked.

He hesitated. "I'm a... I'm a Decepticon."

She frowned and tilted her head the other way. "A what?"

"Decepticon." he repeated and pointed to the dark purple masks on his wings.

Emma squinted but couldn't see them so good. She got down and swung herself from the bridge's edge and to the nearest flat stone. She had done this many times before and turned back to the Decepticon. "You won't mind if I come closer?" she asked.

He bit his lip and mulled the question over but he wasn't sure. She shook her head. "I promise I won't hurt you."

"Promise?" he repeated.

"Promise." she verified. She came forward until she was between his knees and looked up at him. "Wow, you're huge. What's your name?"

He tapped his fingers together and looked away, almost shamefully. "I don't have one," he answered quietly.

"Are you lost?" she wondered.

"No."

She looked more closely at his wings. "Can you fly?"

He seemed to puff up a little with pride. "Yes, I can fly." he answered.

"Can you take me flying?" she asked eagerly.

He thought about this for a minute and didn't see any harm in it. As long as he wasn't alone. "Alright," He nodded and reached down to pick up the girl as she clapped her hands happily. She slightly shied away from his large clawed hand and stiffened when he grabbed her. She wasn't used to being picked up in such a manner. He cupped her in both of his hands and stood up. She looked up at him.

"Where're we going?" she asked.

"Um..." He hadn't thought of that. "The moon?"

Her green eyes widened. "I can't go to the moon! I'd die!"

"Oh," He bowed his head, thinking. He didn't know where to go. Maybe she would be happy if he just flew in a few circles. Without warning, he shifted to his black and purple jet form, slipping her into his cockpit.

Emma screamed slightly from surprise, shutting her eyes tight. When she chanced a peek, she saw she was inside a plane cockpit. Dials, levers, switches, buttons, and gages were all around her and the sky was turned a bright orange through the windshield. She barely had time to look around before he took off to reach a reasonable altitude. She gasped and gripped the armrests for dear life. It didn't hurt him but he felt he grip.

"Are you okay?" he asked, his concerned and scratchy voice coming from seeming all around.

The girl glanced all around, trying to pinpoint the source of his voice. She nodded in answer to his question. Satisfied, he slowly banked left to begin the first loop. Having regained her composure, Emma looked out the window at the acres of ranch and farmland below.

"Wow," she breathed. She had been in planes before but the windows had been tiny and she could barely see anything through them. This window was huge and concaved all around her. She could see all around and the view was breathtaking. "Where did you come from?" she asked the jet.

"Starscream built me." he answered.

"Who?"

"Starscream. He looks like me only he's red and gray."

"Why did he build you?"

"He built me and the other clones because he wanted an army to defeat Megatron."

"Who?"

"Megatron. He's the leader of the Decepticons but Starscream wants to be leader."

The more answers she got, the more questions she had. Where did the Decepticons come from? Where was Cybertron? Who were the Autobots? Why didn't the government know anything about this?

Some questions he had the answers to, some he didn't. He found that he enjoyed talking to this girl. She didn't get mad at him, she was sweet, and she wanted to stay with him. That's what he was really afraid of: being alone. He was glad that he had found someone to keep him company, for now, anyway...

"Why don't you have a name?" Her latest question cut through his thoughts like a knife. He paused.

"Starscream never gave us names," he finally answered. "He just called us by our colors. My color is purple."

"Do you want a name?"

To be honest, he didn't really see a point in getting a name. He was simply a clone of Starscream, though more unique from the other clones before him, just like his 'brothers' and 'sister' were unique. But he also didn't see any harm in getting a name. "Yes," he replied. "I would like one."

"Okay," She smiled and sat back to think. She thought about the way the names of those he had told her about sounded. _Starscream, Megatron, Lugnut, Blitzwing_... She needed more inspiration. "What can you do?" she wondered.

"Well..." He simply showed her. He activated his warp drive and with a loud crack like thunder and a whirlwind of colors, they were back above Dry Creek.

"Whoa..." was all Emma had to say. She felt her stomach fill with butterflies and she lurched forward, stifling a groan. "Don't do that again, please... What _was_ that?"

"I warped." was all he offered.

Warp? Hmm... now she had an idea. "Okay then... how do you like the sound of 'Skywarp'?"

"Skywarp?" he repeated, testing out the new name. He said it again and again, all the more liking the feel of it. "Skywarp... Yes, I like it very much."

Emma grinned then remembered two things. One, she never told him her name. Two, she never got the mail. "I'm glad you like it. Why don't you take me to the end of the driveway so I can get the mail and we can talk more when I'm done, okay?" she offered, indicating toward the road.

Skywarp wasn't quite sure what she was talking about but he did know how to follow hand signals. Transforming, he slipped her out of his cockpit, into his hands, and stood up in the tall grass by the creek. She gasped then sighed loudly.

"Could you warn me before you do that next time?" she asked breathlessly.

"Sorry," Skywarp apologized then walked to the end of the dirt driveway. He stopped at the barbed-wire fence posts and gently put her on the ground. She brushed herself free of invisible dust, looked both ways before she crossed the usually empty street, then got the mail.

"Bills and junk." she stated as she came back to the Seeker, sifting through the few envelopes. She neatly stuffed them in the back pocket of her worn jeans then looked up at him. "Do you mind if we walk back to my house?"

"No,"

"Okay, c'mon." Emma motioned for him to follow as she started walking up the driveway toward her house. Skywarp had to walk slowly so not to get too far ahead of her and he had to walk lightly so not to shake her up too much. "I'm Emma, by the way."

He nodded in acknowledgment. When they got to where she had left her bike, she asked nicely if he could carry it and herself up the hill. He agreed and when he got to the top, he set the bike where she specified and set her down by the porch steps to the side door. She thanked him and went inside to give the mail to her mom.

Her mom was at the kitchen sick, scrubbing dishes. She was a little on the short side and her hair was long, wavy, and red. "Honey," she said, not even looking up from her task. "Are the neighbors playing loud music or something?"

"No," Emma answered slowly, setting the mail on the counter near the microwave. "Why?"

"Because I've been feeling vibrations," her mom replied, setting some plates up to dry. "And did you see that jet flying over a few times?"

"Uh, yeah. I saw it," the girl answered, hiding a smirk.

"I wonder why it was circling around here. Turn on the TV, there might be something in the news."

Emma did as she was told but knew that there wasn't going to be anything on. Setting the remote, back on the coffee table, she called, "I'm going to play outside some more."

"Okay, be careful." her mother called back. Emma skipped through the house to go out the back door. She went down the back steps and was greeted by Penny, one of the friendliest goats in their herd of fifteen. She petted the brown goat fondly behind her horns and made her way to the gate. Going through, she didn't see Skywarp where she had left him. "Skywarp?"

She then saw him peek out from behind the car port. "What are you doing back there?" she asked curiously.

"Hiding," he said quietly, pointing toward the yard. She looked but only saw the goats. Their dog was napping peacefully in the shade of the only tree in the back yard. She looked back at the jet.

"From the goats?" she questioned. "They're not gonna hurt you. They'd probably run away from you if you came near the fence."

"Could we just... stay away from them?" he asked.

Emma gave the herd one more look then shrugged. "If you're more comfortable," Her cousin had recently visited and had also been wary of the goats, especially Nathan. Nathan was the mean billy-goat that you all imagine, beard and all. Strange that his daughter Penny was so gentle. The girl shrugged it off. "Let's go to back down to the creek."

"Alright," He sounded more relieved than anything else. Without even waiting for an inquiry, he picked her up and started down the hill.

She made herself comfortable in the palm of his hand as he walked. She liked her new friend and wondered how long he was going to stay. "Are you going to leave soon?" she asked, her tone taking on a sad note.

Skywarp looked down at her. "Yes, tomorrow morning." he answered. "Starscream wants to make an attack on Megatron."

Emma looked down at her dirty tennis shoes. "Will you come back?"

He didn't know. "I might..."

She looked back up and green eyes met blood red optic sensors. She was quiet before she continued. "Promise you'll come back and see me?"

He gazed down at her in silence, even after he reached the bridge. Finally, he said, "I promise."

She smiled. He smiled back. They spent the rest of the evening together until Emma had to go back home for dinner then to bed. But she opened her bedroom window so that they could talk more until she fell asleep.

-x-

But he didn't come back.

Emma waited and waited and watched for his return but he didn't come back. For weeks, for months, she waited.

Finally, near the end of summer, she gave up hope. He had said that there was a war going on and she figured he must have died or been captured by the Autobots. To remember him, she painted a large stone purple and wrote his name in black letters. When it dried, she placed it outside under window.

Her parents, friends, and family had asked her about what the stone meant. She had smiled sadly and replied, "Oh, I just thought it would be a nice way to remember him." When questioned about who 'he' was, she wouldn't say.

-x-

Three years later, Emma's family was getting ready to move to Florida. Everything was packed and being loaded onto the moving truck her family had rented. They were going to leave that night and she decided to take one last hike around the ten acre property.

She ended her lonely walk on the bridge, looking down into the currently trickling creek. The sun had disappeared behind the hills several minutes ago and she watched the dirty water flow. A few tears escaped her eyes at the memories that filled her mind. She and her brother and friends had spent a lot of time in the creek bed, catching crawfish and other small animals or just chilling, sitting on one of the larger rocks and letting their feet sit in the water and mud.

She was seventeen now. She was maturing into a fine young woman with smooth curves in most of the right places. She had let her hair grow to her waist and had it in a pony tail. She had gotten braces last year as well.

Now that she was older, she had begun to think that Skywarp was just one of her last imaginary friends during her childhood. Yet, that afternoon had seemed so real... She had met him right here. She had scared him and vice versa. She had been inside him, looking out the orange glass at the Texas ranch and farmland below. She had talked with him until she fell asleep...

Emma turned to leave after glancing at her watch and seeing that it was after 8:00 pm. She flinched when she heard a loud crack like thunder or a gunshot and whirled around to look for the source. She gasped and her heart nearly stopped at what she saw on the driveway behind her.

It was _him_...

He stared at her. She stared at him. Neither said anything.

Finally, Skywarp broke the silence. "Emma?"

She nodded slowly, still shocked.

She grown since he last her. She was taller, slimmer, her hair was longer, and she had something on her teeth... "Are you alright?" he asked with concern.

"Y-yeah..." she answered then regained herself, taking on an upset composure. "What happened to you? Why didn't you come back?"

He knelt down and scooped her up in his hands. She gasped at the slightly familiar sensation. "I'm so sorry," he apologized. "I got... distracted."

"Distracted?" she repeated then looked him over more carefully. She saw traces of what she thought might be cement all over his armor and he was scuffed up and dented. "What happened to you?" she demanded again.

"One of Megatron's mechs got me and blue with quick cement." Skywarp explained. "And then we got lost out in space. Blue was caught by the Autobots but I escaped by warping here."

"Oh..." She gazed up at him like the child she used to be then hugged his thumb. "I thought you might have died. I even began to think you were just a figment of my imagination... I missed you."

He held her closer to his face as if hugging her back. "I... missed you, too." he replied softly.

They went quiet and simply relished in the others' presence. Skywarp couldn't begin to count how many times that he had thought of her. He hadn't told anyone else about meeting her. Emma, too, had thought of him countless times as the years passed. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he alright?

She might have fallen asleep in his hand if she hadn't heard her dad shout her name from the top of the hill. Skywarp tensed.

"What was that?"

She smiled. He was just like she remembered him. "Just my dad," she reassured her larger friend. "I have to- ...go." She ended with a fearful and depressed note and looked down.

He was confused and held her away from his face to see her clearly. "Go where?" he wondered, tilting his head to one side.

"I'm moving away with my family to Melbourne, Florida." she explained sadly. "And we won't be coming back."

Skywarp wasn't quite sure what Melbourne, Florida was, but he could tell that Emma didn't want to go. "Would you feel better... if I came with you?" he asked.

She looked up at him, her shimmering green eyes lighting up with happiness. "I'd like that," she replied, smiling softly in the starlight.

-x-

And so, Skywarp was introduced to the rest of the McIntosh family and, after some pleading and reasoning, was allowed to follow the truck from the air. What happened to him? Well, if you're lucky, you just might spot a black jet over Disney World or the beaches or wetlands the next time you vacation in Florida. Or, for those of you that live in the sunshine state, **you have been warned**.


End file.
